Saleel Pulekar

As I stepped out of the wood-and-hay clad meditation hall in our Vasad ashram in Gujarat, I was still in the 'hangover' of the intoxicating Guru puja chant by Bhanu didi, my being was graced by the sight of my Guru looking invitingly at me and walking, as though gliding like a cloud. With a welcoming smile he said, "Saleel, tujhe pata hai main tujhe Germany bhej raha hun." There was such a personal touch in that statement. I was delighted. Two and a half months in Germany were quite challenging. It taught me acceptance and patience. My daily reading of Yoga Vasishtha helped me a lot. I am grateful to Vikram Hazra for having recommended my name to Guruji. And I had a wonderful time with Vikram in Germany. This is the first course I taught which was organised by Christoff Glaser. It was conducted in our beautiful ashram in Bad Antogast. The below pic was taken when the entire batch went for a walk in the Black Forest in the Alps, which is where our ashram is located, ve...

Just a couple of days ago, I got an sms from Hemant (our light hearted, jovial and dynamic YES!+ teacher from Nagpur) in which he asked me a question: What is the difference between longing and desire? It set me thinking for a few moments and so I did not immediately reply and subsequently forgot about it. In my YES!+ courses I take great pride in introducing to my students, Guruji's precision and succinctness in giving knowledge when I read out his words in the knowledge sheet about difference between love and lust and the students not only just love it, their concepts of love taken largely from Bollywood actually get thrashed like a dynamite blasts a mine and clarity dawns. Here I am making a modest attempt, by Guruji's grace, let me know if it helps to bring some clarity: Desire is for some end result; longing doesn't seek a completion. Desire for something arises when we see or hear about it, it comes from the senses; longing springs from love which is beyond the senses...

September 1999. It was the first time I was attending a DSN course. Rashmin, Rajesh Jagasia, Harshal and a few of our common friends we all were on it. I think it was the first one in Mumbai. Arunaji from Gujarat was our teacher. The intensity was increasing as each day progressed. I had decided I will be repeating this course at the earliest, to be able to assimilate its intensity. One of the partcipants took permission to go to his house for a while and come back. We all were surprised at his courage to even ask for a break in DSN course!? He looked very happy after he returned. The course got over and he shared his experience. "I went home to see if my mother was alright. She had just got discharged from the hospital after a serious illness and nobody was at home. To my surprise she scolded me for taking a break from the course and said, "A man in white robes and long hair and beard came and gave me medicines. I am fine. You focus on your course, come on go asap." ...

It was 1st March, the day of Holi, we were driving from Delhi to Rishikesh. The waters of Ganga on either sides of the highway, sounds of manjiras (cymbals), fading sound of one arti getting drowned into another, chants of Om Namaha Shivaya, Har Har Mahadeo, Jai Mata Di, gentle traces of incense, hoardings and photos of various saints, munis, gurus, people wrapped in saffron, white, yellow; faces decorated with chandan, kumkum, ad hearts adorned with devotion; the piousness of Har-ki-Paudhi, Haridwar endearingly welcomes you to begin with and then absorbs you in itself. One cant but feel the purity and sacredness of this place. We had the news that Guruji had arrived in the Art of Living Kumbh Mela Camp and the Rudrapuja had already begun. With hurried steps we walked towards the enclosure and as we entered this was our first glimpse of the Master: Very content with having clicked the above snap I closed my eyes to meditate. The pandal was resonating with the rudrapuja chants by a...